THE BOND IDENTITY (THE SE7EN ORIGINS)
by Art Anthony
Summary: Her name is Bond, Holly Bond. And before she was part of The Se7en she was only one. One woman on a relentless mission to track down the only assassin skilled enough to murder her legendary secret agent father. A killer every bit as lethally trained as she is and every bit as deadly!


THE SE7EN ORIGINS: THE BOND IDENTITY

Chapter One

It's nighttime on the sandy shore of a beautiful beach in costa rica.

A small lithe figure of a woman emerges from its royal blue waters dressed in a rubberised military-styled body suit. Slowly she peels its layer off of her body, revealing a low cut evening top which she then unravels to produce an impressive satin all-in-one evening gown. A few last minute accessories replete with bejewelled earrings and sleek leather purse strapped to her back completes her startling look.

"Holly!" the name screeches into her left ear from a small two-way speaker device concealed within one of the earrings

"Ouch! Damn it Q, wanna dial the volume down a little?"

"Ah, yes, apologies. Its a new two-way low-fi audio transmit-"

"Save the tech-babble for the new recruits, we're already behind schedule"

"You sound a little more... grumpier than usual." he enquires passively

"So would you if you'd just swam a distance that'd make Martin Strel queasy"

"Can't say I'm... familiar with that agent, but I guess-"

"Ok, Im going in! Maintain radio silence till otherwise advised. Over."

"But I... fine." and with that, Q signs off

She strolls over to a nearby lit area revealed to be a huge spectacular mansion. The loud sound of a live orchestra playing can be heard. In front of the mansion lies a large and equally impressive car park, itself playing host to a number of extremely rare and exotic cars including, most notably, a row of shiny black Jaguar XJ's

She attaches a small electronic device under the chassis of one of them before proceeding confidently towards the front door where two men, one average height, the other almost the size of one of the cars, awaits.

"Evening fellas, hope I haven't missed all the fun?" she asks

"Looks to me like you are the fun, gorgeous." replies the smaller of the two

"Beautiful set of... err... earrings you got there." he notes blushingly

"Thanks, maybe you can borrow them sometime." replies Holly before attempting to enter the house only to be blocked by his considerably larger colleague

"Im sorry, invitation only." he concedes "Do you have one... Miss...?"

"Bond. Holly Bond"

He glances casually through the list of names on his clipboard, then shakes his head "Sorry honey, your name doesn't appear to be written anywhere... how unfortunate!"

"Damn it Q!" she mutters under her breath "Okay Carlos, Federico, whatever your name is, I'm gonna need you to check that list one last time. And make it thorough, honey!"

"Hey Im always thorough Chica, you nowhere to be seen! But, you know, there are... 'other' ways to... get inside?"

Holly puts her hand briefly over her mouth and discreetly presses the lock on her purse

"You okay?" He asks with surprising concern

"Yeah, I just... threw up a little in my mouth, that's all." she responds dryly

"Ok suit yourself, your loss! You might as well shake that cute little tail of yours somewhere-"

Just then the device Holly planted on one of the cars activates triggering all the car alarms to go off at once. The doorman along with his bouncer rush over to investigate leaving Holly free to wander inside the house

Inside a large cocktail party is in full flow taking place within a huge open plan area. Two considerably sized staircases spiral upwards at either side of the room as the orchestra, situated at the centre of the floor play to their hearts content.

Holly's entrance turns a lot of heads, both male and female, but for very different reasons. She makes her way over to a floating waitress and helps herself to a glass of champaign from her tray

"Holly, do you read me?" comes Q's voice once more

"Yes I read you," she whispers "but the dork on the front door didn't read my name on the guest list like he was supposed to?"

"I uploaded it myself less than 5 minutes ago! His PDA should have..."

"Therein lies the problem genius, he was using good ole fashioned clipboard and paper!

"Oh. Right. I take it you had a suitable back up?" Q asks

"I always have a back-up! And you always manage to get my back up! Now what do you want?"

"Ive got a bio-scan confirmation! Ludvig Smirnov, self-proclaimed king of sleaze is in that very room with you, the bloke's a definite 9 on my Danger-metre. Too bad this is only a Retrieval Op. Do you have a visual?"

"Hey, patience! Ive only just walked in!" she whispers

"Well... its just us 'being behind schedule' and all..."

"Stick to making gadgets Q, like your father. Giving attitude's definitely not your strong point! And besides, the way I just worked the room, it wont be long before-"

"You too!" comes a voice behind her. Startled, she turns to see an elderly man, well groomed, smartly dressed, with a youthful twinkle in his eye "I regularly have moments where I can only be intellectually stimulated by having conversations with myself."

Holly responds with a sheepish smile

"Your face. It doesn't seem familiar" he enquires

"Keep staring, it'll come to you" she quips back

"No I... definitely would have remembered such an exquisite creature as yourself"

"Flattery will get you everywhere money can't!" she laughs

"Well its a good thing I have a healthy supply of both" he smiles back

"The names Bond, Holly Bond" she tells him before extending her hand to greet him. He in response holds her hand in his before kissing it delicately

"A pleasure Miss Bond. Ludvig Smirnov. I own this... humble abode."

"A palace like this can hardly be described as humble" she notes casually

"Well you know what they say; one man's palace is another man's stable."

"I'm... pretty sure you've got that the wrong way round" she advises before they are abruptly joined by his butler who respectful leans towards him, whispering in his ear.

"Im sorry my dear." Ludvig announces "I have an important matter to attend. We'll reconvene on my return?"

"Don't keep a girl waiting." she teases

Holly's eyes trail them as they exit the main hall and enter one of its many side rooms. It's then she notices one of the guest eyes trailing her just as intently. She's female, same height, age, even similarly dressed. With a raise of her glass towards Holly, the other girl turns and continues her conversation with the overly eager-looking gentleman waiting patiently beside her.

Thinking nothing of it Holly herself turns to resume her radio conversation with Q

"You still there?" she whispers

"Barely, that was intense!" Q concedes "I think I may have wet myself."

"Wouldn't be the first time, I'm sure" retorts Holly "Now tell me you have a lock on the safe, we don't have much time?"

"Fourth floor, last room on the left, should be on a wall directly opposite you when you enter the room, possibly behind a painting or... something?"

"Ok im impressed." admits Holly

"You needn't be i merely hacked into his-"

"Ok, I need a distraction then radio silence. Over!" interrupts Holly abruptly

"Now look, you can't keep... Oh, whatever!" concedes Q before reluctantly signing off again

Suddenly all the main hall lights black out and a handful of the alarmed guests scream in panic . Within five seconds the lights have flickered back on just as the butler re-emerges from the downstairs room, playing down the brief incident with jokey references to electricity bill payments being missed. But unknown to him its one of his guests who are actually missing as Holly, by this time, has made her way up to the fourth floor, picked the lock of the last door on the left and entered the room.

"Ok, I'm in!" she tells Q before making her way over to a large wall-mounted modern art canvas. Gently un-clipping it she places it on the floor silently, revealing a high-tech safe where it hung.

She then begins to peel off a translucent layer of fake skin from the hand which came into contact with Ludvigs and places it on the handprint recognition screen needed to gain entry into the safe.

The safe opens and Holly grabs its contents and walks over to a nearby table to scan through them.

"Ok Holly, what have we got?"

"Various bits of paperwork... Shipment details... an invitation... riddled with spelling mistakes... Inquisitive spelt without a 'q'... no 'u' in opportunities, 'a' in... Wait a minute..."

"What is it?" asks Q

"Quantum! The letters spell Quantum!"

"Ok, Id say it pretty much confirms his link to the organisation bumping him up to a level 10 in my books. Snatch and grab, H, time to make like a tree!"

"Wait." she tells him as she rifles through more papers, deciphering each page as she goes. One in particular catches her eye, a suspiciously plain sheet of paper. She slides off her bracelet and activates an ultra violet filter light projected in its centre and uses it to scan the blank page like a magnifying glass .

"Keeping me in suspense?" asks Q as Holly continues to scribble random letters deciphered from the pages

"Something about... a double cross? ... Seems someone has put a hit out on our host with the most... something about a female... assassin?"

"Your thinking its the same hit-woman that allegedly took out your father? Holly?"

"Have you... ever heard of the name Treadstone or Blackbriar?" Holly asks

"Can't say I have" answers Q

Suddenly they're both startled by the sound of a loud chilling scream coming from downstairs

"Ok, that didn't sound too encouraging!" quips Q

TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
